These two 20-somethings are on a mission to prove millennials aren't as bad as you think

After graduating from the University of Southern California, Matt
Little, now 28, wanted to make it in show business.

However, his stint in film and TV left a bad taste in his mouth.
He was especially disheartened by the behavior of other young
people in the industry, whom he felt were often more concerned
with maintaining a successful Instagram presence than anything
else.

"I felt like we were all being forced into vapid, materialistic,
image-obsessed boxes, and the only way to break free of those
boxes was through savage competition," Little told Business
Insider. "I felt there was a distinct lack of collaboration and
investment in community ... I think I was disillusioned with my
generation. I was somebody who really did feel like millennials
sucked."

Then, in 2010, the Haitian earthquake struck.

Little joined J/P Haitian Relief Organization and traveled to the
island to help with aid efforts. He quickly met both volunteers
and Haitians who inspired him to change his mind about young
people.

"There were these incredible millennials everywhere, saving
lives," he said. "What I started to realize was I just wasn't in
the right pool of millennials in LA — or I wasn't looking for
them. My cynicism had clouded my ability to see these amazing
people."

Meanwhile, Ari Andersen, now 26, had wanted to work for the US
State Department since he was 14. After graduating from American
University in DC, however, he became disheartened by the idea of
a career in government after talking to people whose jobs he'd
previously thought he wanted. Andersen didn't think millennials
"sucked" — in fact, at the time, he didn't give much thought to
the stereotypes surrounding his generation at all.

After returning to his hometown of LA, Andersen wasn't quite sure
about what he wanted to do. He just knew that he liked talking to
interesting people.

Overtime, Little and Andersen began to notice the discrepancy
between the young people they knew in real life and the
descriptions of narcissistic individuals featured in the slew of
millennial-bashing posts on the web. While every society has
bashed the upcoming generation, there's not a lot of love for
young people on the internet today. Type in "millennials" or
"millennials are" on Google and you get auto-suggestion results
like "millennials are lazy," "millennials suck," and "millennials
are dumb." Search results include
plenty of different posts that espouse a less than
positive view of
young people today.

That just didn't mesh with reality for Andersen and Little, who
met in LA.

"We both know so many people our age that are doing such amazing
stuff and should be highlighted," Andersen .

Andersen and Little realized that they shared a goal of bringing
positive stories of young people to the forefront.

So, the podcast "Millennials Don't Suck"
was born. Produced by Robert Maisano and hosted by Andersen and
Little, the project sets out to prove that young people aren't
the shallow group they've been made out to be. Andersen and
Little interview subjects between the ages of 18-34 who defy the
stereotypes about young people.

The podcast just kicked off in September. So far, their guests
have included spoken word artist Prince Ea, model-turned-NASA-engineer
Michelle Easter, and LGBTQ activist and former Minnesota
Vikings player
Chris Kluwe. Sarah McBride, who became the first openly
transgender person to address a major US national party
convention at the DNC this year, is one upcoming guest.

"All generations have been very beautiful," Ea said on
the first episode of the podcast. "This one, this millennial
generation, we've got such great opportunities to make big
shifts. We have been making big shifts in so many different
fields. I can truly say that I am inspired by a lot of the
millennials that are doing incredible things."

The production of the podcast is casual.

"People come over to my house, they sit on my floor with my
puppy, and we talk about interesting stuff," Andersen said.

Both Little and Andersen are working full-time in non-profits.
For now, the podcast is a passion project.

"We both know so many people our age that are doing such amazing
stuff and should be highlighted," Andersen said. "This is an
opportunity to show that we're capable of having these really
self-reflective, altruistic conversations."

The hosts say that so far, they have received mostly positive
feedback.

"The most overwhelming reaction that I've heard is, 'Oh, I've got
10 people I could recommend to you,'" Little said. "I think if
you start putting that positive lens on millennials, folks go,
'Yeah, I totally agree. My coworker, my sister, the guy down the
street, are doing amazing things as well and you need to talk to
them.' We show them one and they recommend 10."